


Here For You

by Dance_Elle_Dance



Category: Royal Pains
Genre: Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Poor Evan, Romance, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 06:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4510677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dance_Elle_Dance/pseuds/Dance_Elle_Dance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Divya had seen Evan without a shirt before. It was a fond memory for her. But when she gets a frantic call from Evan, asking her for help, she sees him shirtless again. Except this time, he's covered in bruises and cuts. (Originally posted on 7/16/09.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here For You

**Author's Note:**

> Re-posting of an Evan/Divya from a while back. OTP doesn't even begin to describe my love for this pairing. Enjoy!

It's nothing she hasn't seen before.

She was a medical practitioner, after all. She'd seen her share of shirtless guys. Hell, even nude guys. But none of them were willingly nude around her. It was just because she had to give them physicals and such…nothing remotely romantic about it at all.

But when she first saw Evan Lawson, shirtless in his hotel room, she had to resist the urge to stare blatantly.

Of course, his body wasn't anything like, say, Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom or any of those famous guys, but somehow, Evan's thin, yet slightly muscular frame gave her the biggest reaction. 

She thought he was attracted to her too. The way he stared at her, even when she was just in a conservative white pantsuit and wore thick rimmed glasses, made her feel like she was beautiful. Maybe even hotter than the typical, stick thin girl that was there before her. Apparently, she was some girl that Hank had saved and she was "crazy" for him, not wanting anything to do with his brother at all.

During the course of the first time they met, that first day, Divya couldn't keep her eyes off of him, even when he donned a shirt.

It was stupid, she knew. She was there to apply for a job, and there she was, staring at him like some stupid school girl seeing a shirtless boy for the first time.

She remembered the way his arms were wiry, yet had the slight muscle that was visible underneath his skin, the way his stomach was flat and attractive. Anyone else - mostly shallow, callous people - would see his body as scrawny, not as appealing as any name movie star, but Divya found him _more_ appealing than the sculpted, toned, perfect bodies of Hollywood.

Divya sighed as she made her way down the street. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Evan for some odd reason. Not since their "date." It was odd, she felt so comfortable around him, yet she could get so infuriated at him at the same time…

Sighing, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, which had started to vibrate. It had interrupted her thoughts, and she wasn't sure if it was a relief or an irritation.

"Hello?"

"Divs?"

Her heart skipped slightly. "Evan?" she asked incredulously, wondering at the distress she had heard in his voice. "What is it?"

"I…uh," Evan said began nervously over the line. "Can you come over?"

"Why? What happened?"

"I'll explain when you get here," Evan said urgently, and she realized that he wasn't joking. Something was wrong.

Divya turned on a heel, heading back to her car with a sinking feeling in her chest. She didn't know what was wrong, but she knew it was something serious. She had never heard Evan sound like that. Not around her, at least. He had never sounded so much…not like himself.

She unlocked the door to her car and hopped in. Her mind immediately started whizzing with possibilities of what could've happened.

She drove as fast as she could without getting pulled over, headed to the place the Lawson brothers now called home.

\---

She drove up to the estate, concern almost strangling her as she parked and leapt out of her car. She wondered if she should bring her bag - the one that housed her supplies - and then decided that it wouldn't hurt. Evan had sounded like something was wrong over the phone, and if that something happened to be his health, then she figured it was better to be prepared.

Divya walked anxiously, quickly, to where Evan and Hank currently resided. The heels of her shoes clinked on the stone until they met grass. She contemplated throwing the shoes off and running, but that would seem desperate. _But I'm certainly feeling desperate now,_ she admitted to herself, the voice of Evan replaying over and over in her head.

_"Can you come over?"_

_"I'll explain when you get here."_

After an eternity of walking, she finally made it to the door, where she tested the knob first, finding it open. Divya barged in through the door, her head darting from side to side, trying to decipher where Evan was in this absurdly large guest house. "Evan?" she ventured, her voice tight with the tension she was feeling.

"Divya?"

Her heart contracted painfully in her chest at the sound of his voice. It sounded broken, as if he were hurt. "Evan, where are you - "

She stopped what she was saying, for just as she got it out, he rounded the corner, looking at her with pained eyes. "Hey, I was wondering when you'd get here," he said, clearly trying to inflect his usual, joking nature into his voice, but it didn't work. It sounded forced, even Divya could tell that.

She didn't focus much more on the sound of his voice. Her eyes were raking over his chest. The same chest that she had been so attracted to when they first met was bleeding, and starting to purple with bruises. There was a large gash on his side, oozing crimson liquid down his ribcage and to the waistband of his shorts. She was shocked at how large and deep it was. The cut made its way from just under his armpit to a few inches above his waist. Old bruises were yellowing, new ones were purpling, and others were just blue in color.

"What?" Evan asked, as if nothing was wrong. Then he began to sway back and forth…

Divya rushed over to him, dropping her medical bag and catching him before he fell to the floor. That wouldn't have been good. "Evan, what the hell happened?" No one could mistake the concern and rage in her voice.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Evan joked, clearly hiding something from her.

Her eyebrows narrowed, and she glared at him slightly. "Evan," she scolded lightly. "What…"

"I'm good," Evan insisted, but he didn't relinquish the hold his hands had purchased on her waist. "I just…cut myself. I tried, but…it won't stop bleeding."

Divya knew that was a load of crap the minute the excuse left his lips. No way could he have bent to cut himself the way the cut was curved along his skin. It was inflicted by someone else. Someone who clearly had a score to settle. Her brown eyes were lost in thought, and the rage she felt for someone who had hurt Evan was almost palpable in the room. She squeezed him a little too tightly, and felt him wince.

"Gee, Divs. I always knew you had a thing for me."

"Shush," Divya said, halting any joking remark from him. "Don't talk."

His face was ghostly pale. How long had he waited to call her? And, more importantly, where was Hank?

"Hank is off on a date with Jill," Evan supplied the answer to her unasked question. "Didn't want to interrupt them. Plus, I wanted to see you…"

Her heart leapt painfully in her chest as she led him over to the couch. She laid him down on the plush, expensive piece of furniture and walked to get her bag. She noticed how much he was bleeding - it was all over her clothes - and wondered why this had happened.

She had seen her share of blood, after all, she did assist Hank in most everything. But seeing this particular "patient" - _Evan…_ her mind kept repeating - so weak and bloody, made her stomach start to churn because it was _Evan_ and _Evan wasn't supposed to get hurt._

 _Not like this…_ she thought, bending over and getting her bag. Her bloodstained fingers clenched tightly over the handle as she walked back. Her eyes caught a glint of a broken wine bottle, the sharp edges stained with blood, lying abandoned beside the kitchen island. Her eyes widened and she forced herself to look away.

She kneeled beside Evan and opened her pack, looking through, desperately hoping to find the stuff needed to stitch up the wound. She found what she needed, as well as antiseptic, several small towels, and a bottle of water.

Dried blood was stained all around the cut. She poured the water, little by little, on to and around the wound, and started to wipe away all the residue. Evan inhaled sharply through his teeth as the cool water came into contact with his skin, and ran into the wound. Soon, the area was clean, and wiped it dry.

"Divya…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't mention this to Hank."

"Why not?" She was startled, as she took out a needle and filled it with a kind of numbing agent. She stuck it into his side, at several spots around the edges of the cut. He winced.

"I don't want him worrying."

Divya bit her bottom lip as she began stitching the wound together. "Why would he worry if you just cut yourself?" she asked in a haughty tone, filled with the anger she felt at seeing him hurt, and at the fact that Evan was hiding something…something that could get him in even worse of a state than he was in now.

"It's…complicated," Evan said, closing his eyes and trying not to focus on the subtle tugging going on where Divya was stitching him back together. "I can't tell you…or Hank. If you know…they'll hurt you."

She felt something prick her eyes at the sincerity of his words. Not just that, at the fact that he was being so brave - brave over what, she didn't know for certain - and taking this whole thing, whatever it was, like someone way more mature than she could ever be, no matter how much she acted it.

"O…kay," she agreed, and felt her emotions betray her. Her voice cracked, and a tear slid its way down her cheek.

A slender finger reached out and wiped the moisture away from her cheeks. "Aw, now, Divs, don't cry."

Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip even harder than before.

"Want me to bite that lip for you?"

A reluctant laugh escaped Divya, and she shook her head no.

"The offer stands."

"I may take you up on that one day."

Evan looked, shock apparent on his face, at the woman in front of him, furiously stitching up his side. She never usually flirted with him like that, and it stunned him for a moment. He was so stunned, in fact, that he couldn't find any words to say, and that was an odd thing for Evan Lawson.

He felt the faint tugging on his skin as she finished up stitching, and tied the end of the stitches together. She sprayed the antiseptic over his wounds, and he winced with the stinging of it.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Divya murmured as she bent over her medical bag, reaching for some bandages. She found a large roll of them and looked up. "Can you sit up for me?"

"Anything for Divsy." He smiled weakly and struggled to sit up. The dark haired woman grasped his sides and helped him up, carefully avoiding touching the newly administered stitches.

The tall woman noticed the stark contrasts between the time she first saw him without his shirt - lightly tanned, smooth skin, and a strong frame made of wiry muscle - and now, bruises scattered along his skin, the long, deep, freshly stitched cut, and several over smaller ones that weren't as serious. Just grazes. Her teeth found purchase on her bottom lip again as she wound the bandages around his torso tightly, but not so tight that he couldn't breathe.

Her fingers touched lightly along his skin, and she felt him wince underneath her touch. She finally finished wrapping the bandages and rocked back on her heels, looking at him with tenderness as he gazed at her with weak eyes.

Sighing, she sat down beside him on the couch, and he turned his head slowly to look at her profile. "You done?"

She nodded curtly, upset.

"Damn, and I was enjoying you touching me."

A flush graced her cheeks despite herself.

"I'm sorry," Evan said, moving his arm to rest around her on the back of the couch. He then moved his arm down to capture Divya's shoulders and pull her closer to him, but not so close as to mess with his stitches. "I can't tell you what happened…"

"It was Bor - "

His free hand shot across her mouth, stopping her from saying his name. She turned her head to look at him, and saw that his lips were mere centimeters from her cheek, her neck. He whispered lightly, "Don't. Even if you have an idea. Don't say it."

Her heart started going double time at his words. She said nothing as Evan continued, "Just, pretend like this didn't happen. I don't want you hurt, Div."

Evan felt her lips move against the palm of his hand, and he chuckled, "You can kiss my lips, not my hand, ya know."

He felt her lips part into a smile against his palm, while her eyes filled with a different emotion entirely. Sadness, worry, anxiety. All because of him, he knew. But he didn't point it out. He let his hand drop from her mouth, fingers trailing along her jawbone until his hand rested in his lap again.

Instead, he held her tightly against him, not caring that the pressure hurt his stitches. He held her tightly, so tight that it felt like he was protecting her from the world. Divya gave into his embrace, turning in to face him, her eyes clouded with emotion.

"Evan…"

"I'll be fine, Divs," Evan reassured, placing his chin on the crown of her head as his thumb made soothing circles on her shoulders. "It'll all be okay."

Divya ducked her head and sniffed lightly, not liking crying around him of all people. She inhaled his scent - he smelled slightly of cologne and shampoo, but mostly of the coppery metallic smell of blood.

She took his hand, the same one that had been over her mouth, in her own. Looking up into his eyes, she steeled herself and said, "I'm here for you, Evan."

Her heart skipped when he smiled weakly.

"I know, Divya."

His lips brushed against her forehead, and he smiled against her smooth skin.

"I know."


End file.
